Brooklyn Boro

Meet the man responsible for maintaining the flags atop the Brooklyn Bridge

July 30, 2018 By Raanan Geberer Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Eagle photo by Lore Croghan
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Cesar Pazmino’s job is not for the faint of heart. He’s the city employee responsible for taking care of the two American flags atop the Brooklyn Bridge, and in the mornings, he climbs a quarter mile along a narrow steel cable to the bridge’s apex, 276 feet above the East River, according to NY1.

The Colombian immigrant has been doing his job for 27 years, and although he takes care of other city bridges as well, the Brooklyn Bridge is his favorite.

“We go up as often as needed. For the most part I’ll be going up there to raise, lower, change the flags, paint the flag poles,” said Pazmino, who was born on the Fourth of July.

For the few times a year that he replaces the flags due to wear and tear, his safety is dependent only on a harness attached to one of the bridge’s smaller cables, NY1 said. Pazmino said his job is the hardest but also the most meaningful, he told NY1, when he lowers flags to half-staff to honor fallen police officers or other city workers killed on the job. He’s also reminded of the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy on a daily basis when he goes up on the bridge “and the towers are no longer there.” At 63, he has no plans to retire.

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